Peepers



Dec. 19, 1939. T. D. BLUE 2,183,655

PEEPER Filed Mardh 15, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1' LINEOF 51cm" Dec. 19,1939. 11 E 2,183,665

PEEPER Filed March 15, 19:59 Z SheetS-Sheet 2 Fl c1. 7.

lnven for Patented Dec. 19, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PEEPERSThomas D. Blue, Charlottesville, Va.

Application March 15, 1939, Serial No. 262,035

17 Claims.

My invention relates to the art of handling race horses at the racktrack, and has among its objects and advantages the provision ofimproved peepers.

An object of my invention is to provide peepers designedto eifectivelycontrol the vision of race horses while going to the barrier andpreparatory to starting in the race in which novel means areincorporated to facilitate removal of the peepers at the will of therider in addition tobeing controllable by the rider to vary the amountof vision of one or both eyes of the horse.

More specifically, my peepers are in the nature of two conically shapedmembers slabbed off 7 obliquely at their apexes to provide sightopenings. The bases of the conically shaped members are of sufficientdiameters to fit comfortably over the eyes of the horse, and the basesterminate in flanges which lie underneath a hood strapped to the horseshead with the members extending through openings in the hood to besupported thereby. I prefer to make the conically shaped members offlexible material such as rubber, and the tips of the members areconnected with draw strings which permit the tips to be drawn partly orcompletely across the sight openings for controlling the vision of thehorse. The flanges may be formed integrally with the conically shapedmembers so as to be yieldable when jerked by the pull strings tofacilitate removal of the peepers for running purposes.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the peeper unit for association with the lefteye of the horse, showing the peeper fully opened;

Figure 2 is a similar view of the peeper unit for association with theright eye, illustrating the manner in which the sight opening may bepartly closed;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 but illustrating the sightopening completely closed;

Figure 4 is a view taken from the position indicated by line 4-4 ofFigure 1;

Figure 5 is a face view of the horse illustrating the peepers in appliedpositions;

Figure 6 is a side view;

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6 with the peepers removed; and

Figure 8 is a perspective view of thepeepers jerked away from themounting hood of Figure 7.

In the embodiment selected to illustrate my invention, I make use ofpeeper units I and I2 which are identical in construction and operationwith the exception that unit I0 is designed for association with theleft eye and unit I2 is designed for the right eye. Each unit comprisesa conically shaped body M of hollow formation and cut off angularly atI6 to provide a sight opening I8. The line of vision is indicated by theline and the bases of the members terminate in enlargements 22 flangedat 24, with the flanges arranged at an angle to the line of vision.Enlargements 22 and the flanges 24 are of such diameters as to fitcomfortably over the eyes of the horse, with the members I4 projectingforwardly, as illustrated in Figures 5 and 6.

Referring to Figures 5, 6 and '7, I provide a hood 26 which is providedwith relatively large openings 28 for the eyes 30 of the horse. The hoodmay be provided with straps 32 for connecting the ends of the hood uponthe head 34 of the horse. The hood may be arranged underneath the bridle36. Openings 28 are of such diameters as to fit snugly about theenlargements 22 adjacent the flanges 24, with the flanges positionedunderneath the hood, as at 38 in Figures 5 and 6. Thus the units It] andI2 are effectively restrained from lateral displacement and the flanges24 are pulled snugly against the corresponding face margins of thehorse. Bodies l4 and their associated flanges 24 are sufficiently rigidto maintain proper form but the enlargements 22 and their flanges 24will yield so as to conform to the contour of the horses head when drawnthereagainst through the medium of the hood 26. I

Tothe tips 40 of the members I4 I connect pull strings 42 which areconnected with loops 44 fashioned at the ends of the pull strap 46 whichis of such length as to permit the rider to grasp the same, asillustrated in Figure 6. Enlargements 22 are provided with bars 48extending to their respective loops 44. Bars 48 may comprise rubbervulcanized or otherwise attached to the enlargements 22. Figure 1illustrates the tip 40 fully opened at which time the string 42connected therewith is under slight tension with one end of the loop 44pulled against the bar 48. Figure 3 illustrates the tip 40 folded backfor completely closing the sight opening I8, at which time the other endof the loop is in engagement with the bar 48. Thus the bars 48 functionto determine the extreme limits in both directions to which the tips orflaps 40 may be positioned. Intermediate positions are-determinedentirely by the will of the rider. Strings 42 are of relatively smalldiameters so as not to impair the vision.

In operation, the peepers are applied before the horse is taken to thebarrier. When applied, the peepers function to effectively control thevision so that the horse can be kept under full control. The sightopenings may be varied in any desirable degree, and the peepers may beindividually or simultaneously opened and closed through manipulation ofthe strap 46. Members l4 bring the sight openings l8 somewhat in advanceof the eyes of the horse so that the animals attention is directedentirely to the sight openings. In handling extremely fractious animals,both peepers may be completely closed andthe selective closing nature ofthe device permits the rider to selectively close the peepers inaccordance with conditions to one side or the other of the horse whichshould be masked from view. Both units are easily and quickly removed bya jerk on the strap 46, which jerk will buckle the flanged margins ofthe enlargements 22 and permit their withdrawal through the openings inthe hood. When the peepers are removed, the horse is given the samechance with other horses to make an even break.

Having thus described certain embodiments of my invention in detail, itis, of course, understood that I do not desire to limit the scopethereof to the exact details set forth except insofar as those detailsmay be defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Animal blinkers comprising a mount for connection with the head ofthe animal, sight tubes carried by the mount axially aligned with theeyes of the animal, and means for closing the sight tubes.

2. Animal blinkers comprising a mount for connection with the head ofthe animal, sight tubes carried by the mount axially aligned with theeyes of the animal, and means for closing the sight tubes in difierentdegrees.

3. Animal blinkers comprising a mount for connection with the head ofthe animal, sight tubes carried by the mount axially aligned with theeyes of the animal, and means for selectively closing one or both thesight tubes.

4. Animal blinkers comprising a mount for connection with the head ofthe animal, sight tubes carried by the mount axially aligned with theeyes of the animal, the outer ends of the sight tubes being providedwith closure flaps, and manually controlled means connected with theflaps for closing the same.

5. Animal blinkers comprising a mount for connection with the head ofthe animal, sight tubes carried by the mount axially aligned with theeyes of the animal, the sight tubes being provided with flexible closureflaps, and means for flexing the closure flaps to closed positions.

6. Animal blinkers comprising a mount for connection with the head ofthe animal, sight tubes carried by the mount axially aligned .with theeyes of the animal, the sight tubes being provided with flexible closureflaps, and means for flexing the closure flaps to closed positions, saidmeans being operable to selectively close either or both the closureflaps in varying degrees.

'7. Animal blinkers comprising a mount for connection with the head ofthe animal, sight tubes carried by the mount axially aligned with' theeyes of the animal, the sight tubes being detachably related to saidhood, to be removed by exerting a pull thereon, and a pull meansconnected with the sight tubes.

8. Animal blinkers comprising a mount for connection with the head ofthe animal, blinker elements removably related to the mount, to beremoved by exerting a pull thereon, and a pull means connected with theblinker elements.

9. A blinder means for race horses comprising a head mount, blinderelements detachably connected with said head mount, to be removed byexerting a pull thereon, and a pull means connected with the blinderelements within the reach of a rider on the horse for pulling theblinder elements from the head mount.

10. Blinkers for race horses comprising a hood for connection with thehead of the horse and having eye openings, tube-like sight membersextending through the eye openings, and flangelike means on said memberslying underneath the hood to be supported in sighting relation with theeyes of the horse, said flange-like elements being flexible to conformto the contour of the head.

11. Blinkers for race horses comprising a hood for connection with thehead of the horse and having eye openings, tube-like sight membersextending through the eye openings, flange-like means on said memberslying underneath the hood to be supported in sighting relation with theeyes of the horse, said flange-like elements being flexible to conformto the contour of the head, and closure means for the tube-like sightmembers.

12. Blinkers for race horses comprising a hood for connection with thehead of the horse and having eye openings, tube-like sight membersextending through the eye openings, flange-like means on said memberslying underneath the hood to be supported in sighting relation With theeyes of the horse, said flange-like elements being flexible to conformto the contour of the head, flexible flaps at the outer ends of thetubelike sight members for closing the latter, and means connected withthe flexible flaps for closing the latter.

l3. Blinkers for race horses comprising a hood for connection with thehead of the horse and having eye openings, tube-like sight membersextending through the eye openings, flange-like means on said memberslying underneath the hood to be supported in sighting relation with theeyes of the horse, the tube-like sight members being flexible and havingangular outer ends to provide closure flaps, and pull means connectedwith the flaps for flexing the latter over the outer ends of thetube-like sight members.

14. Blinkers for race horses comprising a hood for connection with thehead of the horse and having eye openings, tube-like sight membersextending through the eye openings, flange-like means on said memberslying underneath the hood to be supported in sighting relation with theeyes of the horse, the tube-like sight members being flexible and havingangular outer ends to provide closure flaps, pull means connected withthe flaps for flexing the latter over the outer ends of the tube-likesight members, said flangelike means being flexible, and said pull meansbeing within reach of a rider on the horse to permit the tube-like sightmembers to be pulled from their seats.

15. Peepers for race horses comprising a hood for connection with thehead of the horse and having eye openings, sight tubes extending throughthe eye openings, the sight tubes being tapered and having their basesterminating in flanges lying underneath the hood to be supported insighting relation with the eyes of the animal, said flanges beingflexible to conform to the contour of the head, the outer ends of thesight tubes terminating in flexible flaps, and pull means for flexingthe flaps across the ends of the tubes.

16. Peepers for race horses comprising a hood for connection with thehead of the horse and having eye openings, sight tubes extending throughthe eye openings, the sight tubes being tapered and having their basesterminating in flanges lying underneath the hood to be supported ,1 insighting relation with the eyes of the animal,

means for limiting the action of the pull means.

1'7. Peepers for race horses comprising a hood for connection with thehead of the horse and having eye openings, sight tubes extending throughthe eye openings, the sight tubes being tapered and having their basesterminating in flanges lying underneath the hood to be supported insighting relation with the eyes of the animal, said flanges beingflexible to conform to the contour of the head, the outer ends of thesight tubes terminating in flexible flaps, pull means for flexing theflaps across the ends of the tubes, means for limiting the action of thepull means, said pull means being-within reach of a rider on the horse,and said flanges being adapted to be flexed through the eye openings forremoving the sight tubes by exerting a predetermined pull on said pullmeans.

THOMAS D. BLUE.

